Star in the Dust
by YuYuInuWolf
Summary: What happens in the lives of the next generation soul reapers? What happens when one has to live between their families in the Soul Society and the Human world? This is a sequel to 'The Espada's Guest', but you'll probably understand either way.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So, this is a sequel to my story 'The Espada's Guest'. All though, it'll make more sense if you've read the previous fanfic mentioned, you'll probably be able to piece this story together if you don't. Or maybe you won't. Anyway, I'm YuYuInuWolf, and I do not own Bleach.**

The golden eyed girl crawled through the bushes on all fours. Her hair was snow white, except for the last few inches that was strawberry red. The girl's skin was the same color as a light peach. A playful growl reverberated in her throat as she caught site of a boy running behind a tree. She emerged from the bush quietly and stood on two feet. She crept over to the tree, surprisingly stealthily for a girl who looked only 13, and stopped. She inhaled silently, taking in some kind of scent, then smiled maliciously. Suddenly, she sprang to the other side of the tree and leaped on the boy who had taken cover there.

"Rawr!" The girl laughed as she pinned the boy down on the forest floor. He struggled as he tried to free himself from her grip. "Oh come on Tsukiyo, I gotcha, I win."

"Don't count on it Hokori!" The silver haired boy protested. He kicked his knees up, sending the girl known as Hokori, flipping over his head and landing on her back. He got to his feet instantly, only to have the girl grab his ankle and pull him back down. The two started wrestling with each other. As they worked on trying to put the other in a submissive position, a small group of kids made their way through bushes onto the scene of Tsukiyo and Hokori rough housing.

"Told you they'd be fighting. Now pay up!" A girl with navy blue hair and translucent blue eyes demanded as she turned back to the group. The other two kids grumbled and handed her some money. The five kids were all dressed in soul reaper academy uniforms.

"Leave it to Kori and Tsuki to start fighting." A boy with big brown eyes and blond hair chuckled. Tsukiyo, who almost had Hokori down, stopped and stood up immediatly.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times! Call me Hitsugaya or Tsukiyo! Not Tsuki!" He demanded as his grey-teal eyes flared.

"My mom says your dad only likes to be called Hitsugaya, too." The girl that demanded money from the others pointed out with a smile on her face. The girl behind her, with braided purple hair and indigo eyes, chuckled.

"Oh really, Akemi? Well whenever your mom is supposed to do paperwork, she sneaks out and goes drinking with Captain Kyoraku!" Tsukiyo yelled at the navy haired girl.

"Uh, Izuke." The purple haired girl whispered to the blond boy. "Do you think this is going to be another fight?"

"I don't know, Haruko." The boy deemed Izuke whispered back. They recieved their answer when Akemi started yelling back.

"Hey! Sorry that my mother's not a workaholic!"

"She doesn't even have to be a workaholic! She just has to try!" Tsukiyo yelled back, leaning forward and barking in Akemi's face. Akemi only leaned forward to make her voice assualt Tsukiyo's face.

Hokori looked back and forth between the two nervously and dragged a hand through her white and red hair. She tried to think of some clever plan to get them to stop fighting, but nothing was showing up in her brain, so she resulted to something simple and usually ineffective. She stepped between them and started rambling, without realizing she was only making things worse. "Aww come on guys! Let's leave our parents out of this! I mean Tsukiyo's mom is leader of a bunch of assasigns, and Akemi's dad has '69' tattoed on his face, but we don't need to make fun of them."

"Excuse me!" Both Tsukiyo and Akemi yelled at once. Hokori went pale, realizing that she had only made things worse as the other two yelled at her in unison "Well at least my dad isn't some orange haired goofball named after a strawberry!"

"Well this is going to be bad." Haruko pointed out quietly so only Izuke heard.

"I concur." The blond haired boy agreed.

Horoki then growled at both Akemi and Tsukiyo "Hey! Leave my strawberry of a goofball father out of this! All I meant is that we shouldn't insult our parents because we have an issue with each other!"

Akemi and Tsukiyo then glared at each other. Tsukiyo then said "I coudn't agree with Hokori more."

The menacing air around Hokori dropped, for she was now dumbfounded at Tsukiyo's sudden change to her side. "Really?"

Akemi then continued "Same here. Kori is right. If we have a problem, we should take it out on each other, not the other's parents."

"No that's not what I meant!" Hokori protested, but neither of the feuding friends really acknowledged what she said. "I meant we shouldn't fi-" but she was cut off as Akemi and Tsukiyo tackled each other at the same time, and started wrestling on the ground. "Are you kidding me!" Hokori growled as, she too, joined in on the battle, trying to break it up.

"Do you notice neither of us ever part take in these things?" Izuke asked.

"My father says it wouldn't be noble for a young lady Kuchiki such as myself to engage in combat unless life threatening." Haruko pretty much recited her father's, Byakuya's, words.

"My dad told me Mom would be heartbroken if I got into a physical fight with my friends and someone got hurt. Even though Tsukiyo's dad and my mom used to rough house as kids." Izuke shared his reason.

The two just watched calmly as the ball of three literally rolled around in the dirt, kicking up dust and only making more noise as they all tried to yell over each other. Haruko gasped in surprise as she heard a few swears exit the mouth of one of her friends, Akemi most likely. Tsukiyo was yelling about how Akemi always disrespects him by calling him stupid nicknames like 'Tsuki' and 'Yo-Yo'. Hokori was yelling at them both about how they should stop fighting like this and just drop it, then she would growl and bite one of them. And then whoever she bit, would yell and attempt to retaliate, only to end up hitting the other of the three, which caused them to retaliate, which caused Hokori to yell and bite more, which only created an endless circle of chaos.

Suddenly, a figure appeared and the fighting three rolled right into the figure's legs, causing the ball to break apart and leave the three sitting at the feet of Nemu Kurotsuchi. All three of them silenced as they looked up at the women who stood over them.

"Hi Mom." Haruko greeted, stepping over her friends as she made her way to her mother.

"Hello dear. Your father says he wants you home now so you can get ready for the graduation ceremony tonight. Rukia is there already also." Nemu said monotonously.

"Auntie Rukia!" Haruko repeated her aunts name excitedly. She then turned to her friends and waved. "Goodbye gu-" She stopped, she was to refrain from using impolite words, such as 'guys' when talking to ladies. " friends! I'll see you at the ceremony tonight."

Nemu then took her daughter's hand, nodded in farewell to the children, and started off with Haruko besides her. Once they were out of ear shot, Akemi spoke.

"It must stink, having to talk like a noble all the time." She pouted in pity for her friend Haruko.

"It's simple mannerism. Not much you'd know about." Tsukiyo snorted. Before another fight could start, Hokori started speaking.

"So are you guys planning to do anything special once you become soul reapers?"

"I'm going to train hard!" Izuke said, catching on to Hokori's plan. "I can't wait to be able to communicate with my Zanpakuto and build both of our powers." All four young teens looked towards the swords they carried with them everywhere, in admiration and wonderment.

"I wonder what our shikai will look like." Akemi thought allowed, causing Tsukiyo to snort.

"Shikai? Is that all you're aiming for? I can't wait to see my bankai." Tsukiyo announced proudly.

"Well what if you can't reach bankai? Then what?" Akemi asked as she raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"Tch. I'm the son of two captains. Toushirou Hitsugaya and SoiFon, who both have bankais. I will not let them down! I shall have my very own bankai for sure!"

"How 'bout we all make a pact?" Hokori asked suddenly.

"A pact about what?" Izuke asked, causing Hokori to smile.

"A pact that we will all achieve bankai levels! And we'll tell Haruko about it later so she can be apart of it too!" Hokori put her hand in the center of them and looked around expectedly.

"I'm in!" Tsukiyo agreed automatically and put his hand on top of Hokori's.

"Totally! You're brilliant Kori!" Akemi put her hand on top of Tsukiyo's.

"Sounds cool to me!" Izuke said as he added his hand to the pile.

"'Bankai' on three. 1. 2. 3."

"Bankai!" The four shouted in excited harmony.

"Hey, what are you kids up to?" A kind voice asked. The four kids looked up to see Izuru Kira smiling at him.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Izuke asked, surprised.

"Well, your mother says we need to get you ready." Izuru answered as he ruffled his son's hair. Izuke made a face and mumbled;

"Dad, you're embarresing me." This caused his father to take his hand away and apologize, while Hokori, Tsukiyo, and Akemi chuckled.

"Wait 'till you're dressed in one of those monkey suits." A familier voice laughed. The children and Izuru look towards the tree where the voice originated from. The familier figure of Shuhei Hisagi dropped from the tree and waved. "Hello."

"Daddy!" Akemi exclaimed as he picked her up and hugged her. Comparing the two together, Hokori could notice the clear relation between father and daughter, it was mainly between their hair and eyes, but there was some other thing Hokori couldn't put her finger on, some kind of essence. Otherwise, Akemi was the spitting image of her mother, Rangiku Matsumoto.

"So Izuru, how's Momo?" Shuhei asked politely.

"She's well. Rangiku?"

"Well as well." The navy haired man chuckled at his corny joke.

"Well, sorry to take Izuke from you guys, but we must go." Izuru announced as he looked at his son. Izuke sighed in dissapointment before waving to his friends, and disappearing with his father.

"Same here guys." Shuhei lifted Akemi up so she was seated on his shoulder, despite her size he could carry her easily.

"Bye Kori! Bye Tsukiyo!" She waved as her father used shunpo to leave, leaving just Hokori and Tsukiyo. The two white haired teens looked at the directions there friends had left, both knowing neither of their parents were availible to come and retrieve their children.

Tsukiyo kicked his leg back and forth awkwardly as he asked "So I guess we can walk home together."

Hokori chuckled like a schoolgirl as she replied "Well that would be the gentlman's offer."

Tsukiyo rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help the small grin that grew on his face as he and Hokori started walking. They could use shunpo, but they decided not to, neither of them were in a particular rush to go get all dressed and dolled just for their soul reaper initiation. It was a peacful silence as Hokori practically skipped along Tsukiyo on the dirt road. Suddenly, both teens were knocked straight off the path by some big creature. Tsukiyo rolled and landed on his feet, while Hokori did a back hand spring to land on her own. They both looked up in horror.

"That can't be!" Hokori exclaimed in horror.

"A hollow!" Tsukiyo yelled in shock. "But how?"

Hokori looked up at the blue sky, and shouted "Tsukiyo! In the sky!" The white haired boy looked up and saw a large black gash across the sky, it was closing slowly. Before either could say anything, a large, bone like, hand came crashing down inbetween them.

"Kori! Go get help and I'll hold it off!" Tsukiyo demanded and he drew his zanpakuto from the sheath on his back. Hokori nodded and took off down the road, only to stop when she heard a loud crash and saw that Tsukiyo just barely avoided a direct tail lash. She turned back around and appeared at his side. "Kori!"

"If either of us leave the other will be killed." Kori said as she drew the sword she kept on her waist. She pulled the sword out smoothly, the hilt was wrapped in indigo bandages, the guard was a deep purple, and the blade was a pale silver. Hokori looked over at Tsukiyo's beautiful sword. The guard was a golden star-like shape that had a black string that wound around the ice blue hilt. It was like a perfect mix between Hyorinmaru and Suzemaebachi.

"Yes, but if we both stay then we both may-" Tsukiyo was cut off as he jumped to avoid another spiked tail. Hokori now took in the full look of the hollow. It had two spiked tails, two jaws on it's massive head, and the body of a T-Rex with elongated arms.

"Shut up and fight!" Hokori demanded as she held out her palm. "Hado number 31! Shakkaho!" A ball of red energy was fired at the monster, but it dissolved when it touched the creature's skin.

"Small spells like that won't work!" Tsukiyo told her. "Hado number 90! Kurohitsugi!" A black box of energy formed around the monster, and trapped it inside as several large spears pierced the box. But, the black energy only disappeared and the hollow was still there, not a scratch on him. "What the hell?"

"Foolish soul reapers! I can not be slayed so easily!" The hollow laughed, and with a swing of it's tail, hit Tsukiyo and Hokori and the same time, sending them flying. The two teens tumbled down the path more, towards the Sereitei.

"We're idiots! If it broke in through the sereitei, kido must be ineffective!" Horoki observed.

"Then it seems we will just have to rip him to shreds!" Tsukiyo answered the unasked question of _'How do we beat him?'. _The boy was clearly angered, and when angered, Tsukiyo was more dangerous than ever. His teal-grey eyes flared and he charged the hollow, but halfway to the hollow, he dropped to the ground. Hokori's eyes widened in fear. What just happened. The hollow laughed as it picked up the fragile body of Hokori's friend.

"Well, it seems I'll have a snack before I destroy the rest of you." It held Tsukiyo over it's second pair of jaws, which were open wide. Hokori couldn't think, fear trapped her in a web of panic and inability to think clearly. Wanting desperately not to let her friend die, she did the thing that seemed like her only choice. She threw her sword right at the hollow. She didn't charge the hollow, or throw the zanpakuto straight at it, she whipped it so it spun wildly. And to the girl's lack of luck, let the hilt of her weapon bounce off the hollow mask and fly off somewhere into the forest. "AHAHAHA! FOOLISH SOUL REAPER! NOW YOU'RE COMPLETLY HELPLESS!"

The girl's eyes expanded when she realized her mistake. Now more than just scared. She was scared and angry. She was scared, angry, and felt insulted. And, this only ended up adding to more stupidity, and desperate attempts to save her friend. She started pounding on the hollows foot, screaming at the top of her lungs. The hollow only laughed and kicked her, sending her flying back into a tree. But, even after the blow, adrenaline activated and helped the white and strawberry haired girl get up and continue beating up, or attempting to beat up, her attackers foot. Then she started screaming again. This seemed to wake up Tsukiyo a bit, he was incoherrant, but his eyes were open and he looked around. It seemed to take a minute for him to register what had just happened.

"Please! Let him go! You can eat me instead! I swear! Just, please! Let him go!" Without replying to the girl's pleas the hollow picked her up and looked her over. Several cuts on her face allowed scarlet blood to drip and make intricate patterns on her face. She gritted her teeth and her eyes looked absolutely farrel. And, just above a whisper, she bargained "Take me instead."

"Tsukiyo! Hokori!" Familier voices yelled. Both teens, Tsukiyo who was now completely conscious again, looked to see five grown soul reapers running towards them and the hollow. Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya, Captain SoiFon, Captain Grimmjow Jaegerjaques **[1], **Substitute Ichigo Kurosaki, and Lieutenet Katsue Jun **[2].**

"Don't take another step or they'll both be swallowed!" The hollow bellowed, causing all four soul reapers to stop and place hands on their zanpakuto. "And if you draw those zanpakuto I'll kill them both!"

"Bastard!" SoiFon yelled as she stared at her son in the hands of the demon. Katsue looked at the girl in the hands of the hollow. She looked at the white haired girl with the strawberry tips. She looked at the golden eyed girl. She looked at her daughter.

"Kori." Katsue whispered in an angered worry. She looked towards Ichigo, who was staring at Hokori with the same worry as she, and he was looking at the hollow with the same intent of murder.

"Hollow. I suggest you put the kids down." Hitsugaya 'suggested' in a threatening tone.

"And why would I do that?" The hollow asked, amused.

"Otherwise, we will have backup on the way and you'll have no chance of survival. Put them down now, and perhaps we will let you go back to Hueco Mundo." The tenth division captain said. Under normal circumstances, he would threaten the hollow to no ends, but he was hesitant, seeing his own son in the hands of the beast.

"I'm terrified." It sneered sarcastically.

"Hey! You worthless piece of trash! I demand that you put those kids down now! Otherwise you'll be in a hell of a lotta' pain!" Grimmjow roared. He had looked to Katsue as a sister for over ten years now, and seeing her daughter in the hands of danger pissed him off to a whole new level. This caused the hollow to laugh.

"You're in no position to order me around." The hollow reminded him. Grimmjow snarled, but before he could say anything, Hokori spoke.

"One of you! Just use your zanpakuto!" Hokori demanded. Before being questioned, she turned to the hollow and said "Eat me first."

"Why such a ridiculous request?"

"Because, I figure they'll have just enough time to save my friend."

This caused Tsukiyo to speak "What? NO! I will not let you die! I-" But he was cut off by a glare from Hokori. It was a glare that said 'I know what I'm doing'. He was reluctant, but Tsukiyo shut his mouth and decided that Hokori probably had a good plan, unbeknownst to him about her previous attacks of throwing her sword at the hollow and trying to punch it.

"Are you nuts?" Grimmjow yelled up to Hokori. The girl, in return, gave him the same glare that she had given Tsukiyo. Grimmjow, realizing she did have something up her sleeve, leaned over to Katsue and whispered "She has a plan."

"Yes. But what is it?" Katsue asked stubbornly, she wasn't really open for risking her daughter's and dear friend's son's lives.

"I think we should trust her." SoiFon interjected.

"Yes. Tsukiyo would have started a verbal fight with her if he believed that her idea would get her killed." Toushirou added. Ichigo looked towards his daughter, and to Katsue. The resemblence between them wasn't much, physically. But when it came to mentally and personality, they were almost exactly alike.

"Katsue, we have to do as she says." Ichigo announced.

"But-" The dark haired girl started to protest. Her silver and white doe eyes never leaving her daughter.

"Trust her." Ichigo said simply, before continuing to speak to the hollow. In a very threatening voice, he said "That's it! I'm drawing my Zanpakuto!"

"Fool!" The hollow bellowed and it put Hokori in front of it's jaw. Before it could drop her in, she shouted;

"Hado 33! Sokatsui!" The girl freed her arm and sent an outrageous amount of blue spirit energy down the creatures throat. Abruptly, the hollow burst, sending Tsukiyo and Hokori flying. Hokori hit the ground, bounced off of it, and hit it again. Blackness crept over her eyes and her senses faded away, slowly, everything disappeared.

**[1] Read 'The Espada's Guest' and you'll understand.**

** [2] My OC from the story this is based off.**

** So what did ya' think? Any questions? Leave a review or PM me. The next chapter should clear up a couple things if your confused. Well, I know my friends didn't react well to the pairing of Katsue and Ichigo, I'm sorry if you don't like them together, I try to make it vague, but I need them together for the future plot. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

** Welcome back to 'Star in the Dust'! Sorry I wasn't able to update, huge blizzard knocked out our power for a week. I do not own Bleach, hell I don't even own a generator.**

** Fun fact: 43.7% of statistics are made up on the spot.**

Blinding light was shut out by the girl's eyelids as she pinched them shut. Even through the protection of her flesh, the bright light was still able to irritate her eyes enough to make her growl under her breath. Hokori laid her forearm over her face, attempting to return to sleep.

"Come on. Get up already sleepy!" A voice demanded. The white haired girl just grunted and turned over, turning her back to the noise. An angry snarl erupted from behind her, but she remained unphased as she waved a dismal hand at them, signaling for them to silence. In return, a pillow was thrown at her, followed by another pillow, the something like a blanket or towel. Through all of this, Hokori refused to completely wake up and just made herself more comfortable. But then, another thing was thrown at her, and it landed right over her face. The stench of the cloth assaulted the girl's nose. Her eyes widened and she sat up abruptly, swiping at her face. The stinky cloth fell onto her lep, revealing itself as a sock.

"Eck."

"Well you wouldn't get up." A voice reminded Hokori. She looked over to see Tsukiyo, sitting cross-legged on a hospital bed. His left arm was heavily bandaged, and there was gauze wrapped around his forehed, and a couple of patches on his cheeks. It was then that Hokori looked around at her surroundings. She was in the squad four barracks, in a bed, with bandages from her elbows down. She could tell there was also a headband of bandages around her cranium, and a patch under her eye.

"Tsukiyo. Is this because of that hollow?" Hokori asked as she inspected her own banaging. She gasped when she looked at her hands. Specks of blood were visible through the gauze around her palms.

"Yes. I simply have a broken arm and a couple scratches. You injured both your arms when you used that kido and the hollow squeezed you. Your palms have 3rd degree burns from the amount of spiritul pressure you released at once, and a few head injuries. But what's new?" Tsukiyo practically recited what Unohana had told him once he himself had awoken.

"I used that much reitsu?" Hokori asked skeptically. Tsukiyo just shrugged, then turned his attention to the large window placed in the room. Hokori scrutinized the boy's expression. They had been friends for a long time now, and even then, it was hard to figure out what her friend felt sometimes. Hokori crawled out of her bed and plopped in front of the white haired boy. "You wanna share what your thinking?"

"No." Tsukiyo said flatly and looked away from her again, pretending to be interested about one of the flowers next to his bed. But Hokori knew that was 'Tsukiyo-speach' for '_Yes but I don't want to admit it because of my pride. But I might crack and pretend to not like telling you about it_.' Hokori had mastered a couple expressions involved in this strange form of body language.

"Aww come on." The girl whined as she poked her brooding friend in the rib cage. He flinched and cast a weak glare in her direction, she ignored it and poked him in the stomach. "Come on Tsukiyo, tell me."

"Fine!" He raised his voice, 'angry'. "When I was running towards that hollow, and I just passed out. I couldn't keep myself from just dropping. How can I be forgiven for that? I mean-" He continued to scold himself until eventually, Hokori picked up the sock he had thrown at her, and literally shoved it in her friends mouth. Tsukiyo looked down at the strip of cloth in his mouth and turned bright red. He ripped it from his mouth immediatly and threw it back at Hokori. "You'll pay for that Kori!" With that, Tsukiyo leaped from his sitting position and tackled the girl. Hokori gladly oblidged to the fight. They rolled off the bed, onto the floor, as if nothing happened, and kept fighting. Kori had been on top of him, forcing Tsukiyo onto his back and holding his arms in a submissive position. But the boy, fueled by rage with himself and being locked in a hospital, yet also powered by the simple joy of his friends companionship, was able to reverse the positions.

The door to the hospital room then opened to reveal the two teens' parents, their three friends from earlier that day, and Captain Unohana. It was just as they all entered the room, that Hokori had taken an oppurtunity to knock Tsukiyo off of her, only for them both to ended tangled up in each other's limbs, trying to force the other down.

"What are you doing?" SoiFon tried to asked sternly, but she was generally surprised by the image of the two fighting. But niether Kori nor Tsukiyo stopped their antics to answer the women. So Akemi did.

"They're play fighting. It usual happens." The navy haired girl chuckled.

"Yes, I believe they take their stress out on each other, yet they both enjoy it." Haruko added as she cocked her head to the side, observing Hokori's failed attempt at flipping Tsukiyo over. Toshirou Hitsugaya could only stare at his son as he fought with the girl, Toshirou didn't know wheather to feel upset or just show relief that both children are okay. Katsue and Ichigo on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh. It was funny as they watched these two, bandaged, banged up, beaten, teens fight on the floor of a hospital for no apparent reason.

"Children! I must ask you to stop, please. You could reopen your wounds." Unohana asked the kids calmly, giving them _'The' _smile. Both adolescents, catching the facial expression, stopped immediatly and stared at the women before standing and brushing themselves off.

"So how long was I asleep?" Kori asked, pretending like she and Tsukiyo hadn't just been rolling on the floor trying to get the other to stay down.

"Almost seven hours." Unohana answered with a kind smile. Kori nodded as she took that in. Then she realized something.

"Wait! So we missed our graduation?" She asked with a shocked and saddened face.

"No silly!" Akemi laughed.

"They postponed it due to the appearence of a hollow. They're going to have it a few days from now instead." Izuke answered. Then Haruko continued.

"The department of research and development plan on doing some scans of the sereitei barrier and see what allowed the hollow to break through."

Then SoiFon added "And the stealth force is working on finding any clues or people who may have knowledge on this."

"And Grimmjow is on his own personal patrol, probably killing every hollow he comes across in Hueco Mundo right now." Katsue added, catching her daughters attention.

"Grimmjows in Hueco Mundo?"

"Yeah." Ichigo answered. "He wanted to see if he could find any clues over there as to why and or how that hollow got out of Hueco Mundo and into the sereitei." The orange haired man then scruffled his daughters hair and pulled her into a hug "I'm glad you're okay."

Tsukiyo was about to make a comment about how it must be embarresing for Kori to be hugged by her parent in front of her friends but then, SoiFon pulled him onto her arms and said "And I am glad for your saftey as well, my son." For a moment, Tsukiyo could have sworn a tear glinted in his mother's eyes. He tilted his head downwards so he could look her in the eye, he had already surpassed her in height, almost the same height as his father now. Tsukiyo recalled how everyone told him he was the exact replica of his father except for his eyes, then that branched into the subject of Toshirou's past, which always brought up the fact that Toshirou was so short until he hit a growth spurt that helped him reach 5' 10".

"Well, I trust that both of your families can take care of you, so you two are free to go. I've already told your family about what precautions should be taken. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go." Unohana said her farewells and disappeared.

"Oh by the way, Kori, I believe this is yours." Haruko said as she held out Kori's blade. Hokori stared at her sword as she gratefully took it from her friend. There wasn't a scratch on the blade, the hilt wasn't damaged, and there were no chips in the guard. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she hugged her sword.

"How did it end up in the woods anyways?" Akemi asked.

"Well, you see, I sorta paniced and, well... through it at the hollow." Kori admitted shyly and stupidly.

"YOU WHAT?" Tsukiyo yelled from behind her. Kori turned to look at him, as soon as she did, the boy grabbed her shoulders and shook her silly. "Are you an idiot? Why would you throw your zanpakuto? What if we didn't find it, then what? You'd be done for as a soul reaper! What a half-as-" He stopped shaking her and talking when he realized her head was spinning. He just let her go and crossed his arms.

"Awwe. They'd make such a cute couple." Akemi couldn't help but giggle at her audible thought. Both, Hokori and Tsukiyo, turned bright red at the thought and barked.

"SHUTUP!"

"Where would you get such a stupid thought? I was just telling her how much of an idiot she is." Tsukiyo turned his head so no one could see his blush.

"Exactly." Kori agreed.

"Get ready Toushirou. I think we may be in-laws." Ichigo chuckled. Toushirou just shook his head in silence and Katsue chuckled.

Ichigo took Kori on his back, insisting it wasn't nesacary for her to walk. Kori was to tired to fight with her father, knowing that he was probably more stubborn than herself. So they walked home under the sinking sun. Kori, Katsue, and Ichigo.

"I'm so proud of you, princess." Ichigo praised his daughter as they walked. "You used your head, just like your mother."

Katsue smirked as she added "And you were reckless and lucky like your father."

"You also tried something crazy." Ichigo laughed, looking at Katsue.

"Hey!" Hokori laughed as her parents made jokes at each other's expense.

Soon they reached their home, and they were met with a surprise at the door. When they walked into their home, Grimmjow was leaning against the door frame.

"Hey! Kori! You're okay!" Grimmjow cheered as Kori jumped down from her father's back.

"What did you expect?" Ichigo laughed. "You saw that serious reitsu she made that thing eat."

Grimmjow gave one of his smirks as he patted Kori a little too hard on her back, knocking the wind out of her. "Hey Kori, I want you to meet some friends of your parents and I!" Grimmjow announced.

"Grimmjow, who are you talking about?" Katsue asked curiously, unaware Grimmjow had brought some old friends into her house. Grimmjow just winked at her and gestured for them to follow him. They walked into the living room. Kori stared at the two figures sitting on their couch. A man and a woman. The man had wavy brown hair and a faded goatee. He had a thin face, and cool grey eyes, but this was very warming in a way. But what Kori couldn't take her eyes away from, was the boney jaw-line around his neck. It sounded off every alarm of 'hollow' in her head.

The woman looked even more suspicious, a high collar drawn higher than her nose. Her yellow hair that had three small ponytails. Her eyelashes were even yellow- blond, framing clover colored eyes. And dark skin only added to how exotic she was. Unlike the man, no hollow mask was evident on her, but her reitsu practically screamed it. Hokori eyed them with suspicion in her eyes, then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother drop.

"Mom!" Kori shouted and she drew her Zanpakuto. The girl was about to swing, but her father caught her arm.

"Well Kid, long time no see." The brown haired man chuckled as he walked over to Katsue and helped her up. Hokori could now see that her mother was crying, crying tears of joy. Katsue hugged the man, and then the women once she came closer.

"Starrk! Harribel!" Katsue exclaimed as she hugged them. The dark haired girl hugged the yellow haired one and when they pulled away they held hands. "It's been so long!"

"Yes! But, I told you we'd meet again someday, even if you were sleeping I knew you heard me." The women said, then she met eyes with Kori. "I take it this is your daughter?" Harribel parted with Katsue and held her hand towards Kori. "Hello. I'm Tier Harribel."

Hokori waited a moment before shaking the women's hand, then, hesitantly, she gave the women her hand and shook. "Hello. I am Hokori Hoshi Kurosaki." Harribel's eyes widened for a moment before she looked towards Katsue, then Ichigo, then back to Katsue. The women seemed surprised at first, but then seemed to let the information settle in her head.

"And I'm Coyote Starrk." The man said as he ruffeld the girl's white and strawberry hair. He then looked at Ichigo. "So, I see you settled down with our princess." Ichigo blushed and answered.

"Uh, yeah." He rubbed the back of his head, and then Grimmjow came and 'patted' him on the back. Succesfully knocking the wind out of the substitute.

"Yep. And if he was to ever mistreat her," The blue haired captain casted a malicious glance at his orange haired 'friend'. " another Captain and me made a deal with him." Harribel put a hand to her mouth attempting to stifle a chuckle, and Starrk just smiled and shook his head. Ichigo turned pale as he recalled the threat he had been given when he and Katsue first started dating. Katsue giggled at Ichigo's ghostly appearence. Kori looked at her father in amusement, then a thought crossed her mind and became audible.

"Wait. Since you have those bones on you, are you a hollow?" Kori asked, turning her eyes to Starrk.

"Correct." Starrk answered, then, he nodded to Harribel and continued. "We both are." Kori looked towards Harribel with expecting eyes. In response, Harribel unzipped the jacket she had been wearing, revealing remenents of hollow bones from her nose to her mid-torso. Hokori started in amazement, then she spotted the extremely faded 3 on the visible part of Harribel's breast. Katsue had told her daughter all about the Espada and their rankings.

"You were number three." Kori breathed in amazement as Harribel zipped her jacket back up. Kori turned to Starrk, about to ask what number he was. As if he knew what the girl was going to ask, Starrk had already removed his glove and held up his hand. Kori's jaw dropped in amazement. "Number one!"

**Whoo... I repeat, sorry i was rendered unable to `update. Got whacked by a snowstorm and lost power for a week. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the reappearence of Starrk and Harribel. Don't worry, more surprises are in store *wink wink*.**


	3. Chapter 3

** Heyo. Back with chapter 3! I don't own Bleach.**

** Fun Fact: Your foot is the length between your wrist and elbow. **

"Wow Kid, you actually know about us?" Starrk asked Kori, surprised Katsue ever shared that part of her past with her daughter. Kori nodded.

"Yeah. It was my favorite story. Mom always told me about something funny that happened between Grimmjow and some really tall guy he turned into a pretzel." The white haired girl chuckled, recalling the story her mother had told her.

"Your talking about Nnoitora." Harribel also chuckled, remembering the time she had been in the room with Starrk and Katsue when Nnoitora hopped by, all twisted.

"Well Hokori," Starrk started to say before the girl he was addressing cut him off.

"You guys can call me Kori." Then Starrk continued.

"Well Kori, it was very nice to meet you, but right now, Harribel and I would like to talk to your mom, dad, and Grimmjow about some important things." He said as he shot a glance at Katsue. The dark haired girl picked up his gaze immedietly, seeing the urgency in it. Something told her that Starrk and Harribel had come for more reasons than to say 'hello'. Katsue also looked at Grimmjow who was staring hard at the floor, clearly, he knew something too.

Kori sighed in dissapointment, she had been hoping to talk with Harribel and Starrk more. Even though her mom told her about the Espada, she spared many details, and as a thirteen year old, Kori was naturally curious. "Okay." She let her shoulders slump and her bottom lip puff up a bit. Harribel, who seemed to have a soft spot for this, said;

"But we'll be staying in the area for a while. We're going to be at Grimmjow's house." Even though her mouth wasn't visible, she was definately smiling sweetly. Kori's face brightened instantly, a big smile creeping onto her face as she made her way to her room. Katsue and Ichigo however, looked to each other, both with concerned looks on their faces. Once Kori was out of the room, Katsue's head automatically snapped between Grimmjow, Starrk, and Harribel.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what's going on?" Katsue asked worriedly. She wanted to believe that her dear friends were just coming to say 'hello' and reminesce, but that was not the case. Starrk leaned backwards with his hands behind his head, Harribel looked to the ground, then back up, with a serious look replacing the soft one she previously held. Grimmjow nodded.

"You might wanna' sit for this." Grimmjow announced. Katsue just raised a frustrated eyebrow at him, ignoring his suggestion. The blue haired man just shrugged and looked at Starrk, who yawned lazily. This told Grimmjow he'd be the first to speak.

"According to them two, something's goin' on in Hueco Mundo." Grimmjow started the topic, then looked towards the other two ex-Espada, silently announcing his finish. Starrk sighed, ran a hand through his wavey hair, and continued.

"Something's wrong with the hollows. They're getting stronger, and braver, and some, even smarter. It's just like when Aizen was around with the Hogyoku." Starrk said grimly and bluntly. Katsue's eyes widened, and Ichigo gripped her shoulder. At first, the dark haired girl thought he was doing it to comfort her, but when she saw his face, Ichigo looked like he was looking for some comfort. Katsue's eyes fell back on Harribel, expecting her to continue, which she did.

"We believe the hollows are getting stronger because of some presence in Hueco Mundo. Of course they don't stand a chance against us, but they're growing at a dangerous rate." Harribel said and stopped, giving Katsue and Ichigo a chance to ask questions. Katsue was chewing her bottom lip, thinking about all of this. Then Ichigo asked the question she was trying to figure out.

"But what is making them stronger?" Ichigo asked, a look of determination in his eyes. Starrk wasted no time in replying.

"Guys, a few days after Grimmjow brought you here, Harribel and I went back to the spot where you and Aizen were lying." Starrk was saying. He stopped there, and his eyes caught Katsue's in the moment they were being cast downward. He knew the exact words she was thinking.

_'You mean us, Aizen, and Ulquiorra_.' Katsue thought bitterly. She raked her teeth across her lip and fought the single tear that threatened to spill from her eye. No one dared to say his name around her, the thought of him brought a lump to her throat and tears to her eyes. She did her best not to show any reaction though, for Ichigo. Katsue remembered one day, when she completely broke down after the mention of Ulquiorra's name, in front of Ichigo. She would never forget the look in the orange haired boy's eyes when he literally lifted Katsue up off the ground and coaxed her out of crying. While he smiled, and said encouraging words about she and Ulquiorra, Katsue will never forget the pained, forlorn, look in those big brown eyes.

Starrk decided now was a good time to keep talking. " But when we went back, Aizen's body wasn't there." Katsue's eyes widened and she reeled back a bit, taking in what that could mean. But Harribel immedietly tried to comfort her.

"But that could mean any number of things. A desperate hollow may have come and eaten his body, or an old arrancar may have taken it and buried him. Anything is possible, who knows, maybe he was litterally blown away or buried under the sand." Harribel said hopefully, but Katsue and she both heard the disbelieving part of her voice. Ichigo had moved his hand to Katsue's, and she gripped it desperately. Her nails dug into the palm of his hand, but neither of them seemed to notice.

"For arguements sake," Grimmjow broke the silence. "lets say Aizen is back. What could he want? Yammamoto has the oken is gone and impossible to use now. Aizen would know that, so why is he back?" Grimmjow pondered. Ichigo was the first to answer.

"Revenge on the Sereitei." Ichigo said solemnly, something in his pools of brown seemed to melt away for a second, like his mind went somewhere else. Katsue's knees and fist started shaking. Her head dropped to the floor as her mouth curled into a snarl.

"That bastard." She growled.

"Katsu-Chan, we're not even sure it's him! It could be-" Harribel was going to stop herself realizing it was futile, but Katsue cut her off.

"Harri! I can hear it in your voice, you think he's alive! And I swear, if that bastard comes back here, I will kill him with my bare hands! I will tear his throat out and feed it to a human world dog! I will destroy him! I will truely avenge Ulquiorra!" Ichigo's eyes visibly darkened and he looked away, but Katsue didn't noticed fore she was still making threats. "I will kill him as slowly and painfully as I can. And I'll start with ripping the Hogyoku straight out of his chest with the tip of Naitomeapurinsesu!" Her fist were shaking uncontrollably as she held it in front of her face, imaigining she was squeezing the last breath out of Sosuke Aizen. Furious tears poured from her eyes as her teeth gritted. She was in her own mind, forgetting about the people around her. But then, an assuring squeeze gripped her shoulder. She looked up quickly to see Ichigo, who wasn't looking at her, but holding her shoulder as he whispered;

"You won't do it alone." Then another squeeze held her other shoulder. She looked to see Grimmjow, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"Count me in."

Now it was Harribel's turn to stand and speak "This time, we won't miss the fight." She declared, speaking for both herself and Starrk. Starrk nodded as he stood next to Harribel. The five people in the room looked around at each other, all knowing what was going to happen. At least, they thought they knew what would happen.

"Kori! Come one you have to get ready!" Katsue called to her daughter, who was sitting by the edge of the koi pond. Kori sighed, stood up, and came into the house. It was the day of the Graduation Dance. Graduation itself had been a few days ago, and now it was time for the real celebration. Katsue followed Kori to her room, getting ready to help her get ready. Harribel, was also there, going to assist Katsue in getting her daughter ready. Once the three girl's were in the room together, they all looked at each other, none of them were exactly sure what to do, none of them were ever real girly girls.

Katsue then snapped her fingers. "I know exactly who can help!" Katsue ran out of the room, and then came back several minutes later. "I sent Ichigo out to get someone, until they come back, we should get the dress on you!"

Kori rolled her eyes, being a bit of a tomboy she wasn't the biggest fan of dresses. But she did have to admit, the dress was pretty. It was a scoop neck with inch thick straps. It had a black pleated sash around the waist line, and an identical one that ran across the bottom hem. The dress also had a shimmery sparkle to the bottom, like whoever was wearing it had walking through a dusting of snow. Otherwise, the dress was all white and simple, but very pretty.

Just as the women finished slipping the girl into the dress, the door to the room door slid open with such firce, the whole house shook. Kori looked up with a look of alarm on her face, Harribel took a battle stance, and Katsue just giggled.

"I heard there was a fashion crisis here!" Yumichika yelled as stormed into the room, he stopped dead when he spotted Kori. "Oh. My. God. That dress is gorgeous! But what will we do with your hair, and you need some kind of accent the same shade of red as the tips of your hair. Otherwise, the ivory color on the dress and the whiteness of your hair will make you look washed out!"

The fifth seat was all over Kori in a second, inspecting every part of her dress, feet, and then her hair. Kori stood there with her head tilted to the side, with that classic anime confused face, i.e. the eyes being completely white and thickly rimmed with black. Katsue and Harribel had stepped back, observing the observation.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Harribel asked so only Katsue could hear.

"No. But I can't do any better so I'm gonna leave it to him." Katsue shrugged. Then Yumichika was calling her name.

"Katsue, darling, if you wouldn't mind could you get me a couple things." The feathered man asked kindly. Before Katsue could even oblidge or decline, he handed her a list and said "Thanks darling."

**So, what is Yumichika gonna make poor Hokori look like exactly? Is Aizen back? If not, what's making the hollows act up? How does Ichigo feel after Katsue's crying about Ulquiorra? What will happen at the Graduation Cermoney? Find out in the next chapter of 'Star in the Dust'!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome back! Time for chapter 4! I do not own Bleach. Oh, by the way, it's a short chapter.**

** Fun fact- You burn more calories sleeping than watching TV**

"Wow. You guys look really pretty tonight." Izuke said as he tried to hide his blush. He was really talking to Haruko, but for the sake of Akemi, he complimented her also. The graduation party had started about twenty minutes ago, and so far, only Akemi, Haruko, and Izuke were there, from Kori's group of friends anyway.

"Well thank you Izuke." Akemi gushed happily. "You don't look half bad yourself." Akemi was wearing a silver dress with spaghetti straps that showed off her ample chest. Her hair was curled and crimped, and her makeup made her look like a model. Most of the boys at the dance had already came over drooling, trying to dance with her.

Haruko giggled "Thank you, Izuke-Kun. You look very handsome also." Izuke turned bright pink as he smiled and tried to get rid of his blush. The only thing that changed about him was that he was in a tux and black bow as opposed to his soul reapers uniform. Haruko, on the other hand, was dressed very formally. She had on a halter top dress that was dark purple with a beaded bodice. The loose dress hem fell right below the girl's knees. Her hair, which was usually kept in a braid, fell to her waist gracefully. Her bangs cut straight across the top of her indigo eyes, which were complemented by a dark blue jewel around her neck.

"Now I wonder where Tsukiyo and Kori are." Akemi wondered aloud as she scanned the crowd, looking for her friends. Haruko and Izuke also looked around, and spotted Tsukiyo.

"Here comes Hitsugaya-Kun." Haruko said just as he joined their little circle. He was sporting black dress pants, white dress shirt, open black jacket, and a red tie. He had his usual brooding face on, clearly not enjoying anything about the celebration.

"Hey guys." He grunted as he continued to look around at the decor with disapproving eyes.

"Hey Tsukiyo." Izuke greeted.

"Greetings, Hitsugaya-Kun." Haruko smiled.

""Ello Tsuki. Could you look like you had a stick shoved any higher up your butt?" Akemi asked. Tsukiyo turned as red as his tie, but before he could respond, the navy haired girl started a flow of words as she looked towards the door. "Whoa! Now way! Is that Kori over there?"

Haruko, Izuke, and Tsukiyo looked to follow Akemi's gaze, and their reactions all mirrored some sort of shock. Haruko covered her mouth with both hands and her eyes widened in shock. Izuke, bit his bottom lip in attempt to stop his blush. Tsukiyo's mouth was hanging down and his eyes took in every bit of the girl he saw walking towards their group.

She was wearing a beautiful white dress with black accents around the waist and hem. It looked like a dusting of snow had been dumped on her, sparkles in her hair and on her dress. Her white and strawberry hair was placed on top of her head in a loose updo, with her bangs sweeping over the top of her right eye. Tsukiyo could have sworn he was watching in slow motion as Hokori giggled, blinked an eye dabbed with strawberry eyeshadow, and then met eyes with him. He hadn't even realized Kori was feet from him, already in their circle of friends.

"Kori! You look so pretty! Not that you usual don't, but you just look so... lady like!" Akemi gushed as she fawned over the other girl.

"Oh, yeah. Yumichika did it really. You can probably tell." Kori said as she played with the black feather earrings she had on.

"Wow Hokori-Chan! You look like a princess." Haruko complimented.

"Thanks Haruko! You look so pretty in that dress!" Kori complimented back.

"Hey Kori, you look nice!" Izuke somehow managed to say without blushing.

"Awe thanks Izuke! You look pretty handsome yourself." Akemi, Haruko, and Izuke all looked towards their male white haired friend. The three of them had always had the sense it was possible for him to like Kori. Kori, on the other hand, was a bit dense to this, so she just looked towards to Tsukiyo too since everyone else was.

All eyes fell on Tsukiyo, who had his arms crossed and was pretending to watch other fresh-out-of-the-academy soul reapers dancing. When he glanced to see if his friends were watching him, his eyes got caught by theres. He just coughed and focused on Kori. "Hokori, could I need to talk to you outside." He declared as he turned around and started walking towards the back door.

"Ooh. Kori, Hitsugaya wants to see you _alone_." Akemi snickered. Kori just rolled her eyes and followed her friend out the door. It lead onto a small walkway around the building, and this particular area overlooked a small koi pond and a lovely garden. Tsukiyo was leaning against the wooden railway around the walkway, looking at the moon with soft eyes. The light poured down on him and made his eyes and hair only glow. He then noticed the girl's presence. For a moment he didn't seem to know what to say, but then, in a hurry, he said "You look nice tonight."

"You look handsome as well-" Before Kori could finish her sentance, the white haired boy was holding a little black rectangle and trying to pass it to her. It took the girl a minute before she realized she was supposed to take it. An air of awkward silence hung over them as Kori pondered what to do, she decided to open the box. She gasped when she saw it's contents.

A red crescent pendent hung from a silver chain. It was scarlet, and it glittered under the light of the moon. Kori could just make out some black little figure in the center. Suddenly, she flung herself at Tsukiyo and hugged him. He was in shock at first, and didn't really realize what was happening, but soon enough, he patted her back. "Tsukiyo! It's gorgeous!"

"Hey hey hey! Don't get all mushy on me! Yumichika told me I had to give it to you." Kori drew back when she heard this. The boy who was accompiniaing her looked at her, not understanding that the hurt look on her face was because of what he said. But somehow, the teenage boy, fixed his mistake. "Well, technically, Yumichika just told me to get you something red. When I went to the market, I just sorta saw this and I thought you would like it. ...Do you want me to help you put it on?"

Kori's head snapped up and her eyes glittered as she handed Tsukiyo the necklace and nodded. The frosty eyed boy walked behind her and drapped the necklace around her neck. Hokori could feel his breath lightly as he fought with the tiny clasp on the necklace. Eventually, he got it on her and turned her so he could see. His own eyes widened at the beauty of the pairing between Kori and the necklace. Tsukiyo's hand, which had been on Kori's neck, had moved upwards a bit, so his thumb now traced circle around her rosie cheeks.

Out of nowhere, a huge 'bang' erupted from the woods, causing the two teens to jump away from each other and look towards the wooded area. Frosty and amber eyes alike, widened in horror at the strange sight of blackness crawling upwards from the trees.

"Is that black fire?" Kori leaned forward, trying to make out what the strange substance was. Soul reapers flooded the area, gasping and preparing their zanpakuto.

"Guys are you okay!" Akemi yelled as she ran up to Tsukiyo and Kori. Her grey eyes then fell upon the black wisp crawling into the sky. "What is that?"

"We don't know," Tsukiyo was saying, he then spotted his father in the crowd. "but I'm about to find out." With that, the younger Hitsugaya went to speak with his father. All the graduates from the dance looked at the darkness that seemed to be pulsating.

Kori's amber eyes scanned over the tree line, and her eyes fell on another pair. An emerald pair of green eyes watching her from the darkness. When she finally focused on them, they vanished. She questioned her sight for a moment, but then assured herself she saw a pair of green eyes in the shadow of the brush. But they weren't there now.

"Harri, do you think it's cero?" Katsue asked her friend. Both women stood in the crowd of soul reapers who had gathered to see what happened in the back woods of the academy. It was like nothing ever seen before. But, it felt similar to cero, or spirit energy.

"That's how it seems." Harribel said. But while she glared at the dark wave reaching towards the sky, she continued. "But it's more than that."

Katsue's white eyes looked towards the moon. It's light wasn't even able to break through the opaque blackness of the strange fire. The feeling of this spreading fire, it struck a cord of familirity**[1]** with Katsue.

"Aizen."

** [1] Familirity- Is that even a word? Sorry if it's not. I think you get the general point of what she means though.**

** "Emerald green eyes" hint hint. Catch ya' next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

** Yeah yeah yeah, I update slow. Sorry, blame school. Anyways, I don't own bleach.**

It had been a few days since the strange black fire, but it was still fresh in everyones' minds. No soul reaper was able to get the image of the darkness out of their minds. There had been numerous captain meetings in the past three days since the incident. All the students who graduated from the academy the same night, were also talking about the strange occurence.

"Haruko, do you know anything about it?" Izuke asked the purple haired girl. Afterall, her creepy grandfather was the captain of squad 12.

"No. From what I know, the Department of Research and Development are still working on it. Besides, it may take a while before even I am told anything." Haruko responded.

"I hate that we are always the last to know!" Akemi pouted, crossing her arms.

"Get over it. It's just how things work." Tsukiyo said as he looked towards the sky. He had to stifle a shutter in his bones, just thinking of the black fire. It had blocked out the light of the moon, leaving nothing but the lamps that had lite the area for the celebration. Thinking of that night reminded him of his friend who was currently missing from the group. "By the way, anyone know where Kori is?"

"Oh yeah! How was it when you and Kori went outside by the way! You two looked so cute together!" Akemi's words streamed from her mouth like a song almost.

A light shade of pink emerged on the young Hitsugaya's cheeks. "What- What the hell are you talking about? I told you at the dance! I only needed to talk to her!"

"Face it Tsukiyo! You like Kori!" Akemi accused as she pointed right in the white haired boys face, with a triumphet smile on her face.

"Tch. No way!" Tsukiyo denied as he swatted her hand away.

"Sorry to interupt, but Hitsugaya-Kun, there is evidence that you have affection for Kori-Chan."Haruko said, hiding her mouth behind her sleeve to hide her small smile.

"As if!"

"Come on Tsukiyo. We already know. We've kinda known for a while." Izuke said calmly, trying to ease his friend into the idea of admitting his crush.

"Just shut up!" Tsukiyo barked as he turned his backs to his friends and crossed his arms. Akemi and Haruko chuckled while Izuke just smiled and shook his head. The three of them knew that was most likely Tsukiyo's only way of saying 'You're right'.

"Katsu-Chan." Harribel said softly, looking at the ravenette across from her.

"It's Aizen isn't it? The black fire." Katsue asked bluntly. She continued, knowing the answer to her question. She held the white cup of tea in her hand, her knuckles turning just as white while her vice like grip only tightened. "He's really back. And he wants revenge."

"It would seem so." Starrk said, he was seated next to Harribel across the tea table from Katsue and Ichigo.

"Dammit!" Ichigo cursed as he slammed his cup on the table. "Argh! I just wanna go find that bastard and-"

"And swing your sword around like a moron?" Grimmjow finished the strawberry's sentence with words he didn't plan on saying. But Grimmjow, who took his usual place leaning against the wall, couldn't take his eyes away from the contents of his cup of tea. He was clearly deep in thought, hence the lack of venom in the insult he had dealt Ichigo.

"You would do something else?" Ichigo asked skeptically. The blue haired captain didn't even respond. It was Starrk who then spoke, not that it was really related to the topic.

"Kori, she looks so much like Ren." Starrk said, Katsue followed his gaze out the window, to see her daughter looking at her Zanpakuto, polishing it on the porch. A sad smile fell on her face as she thought about her sister.

"Yes. When she started getting hair, I thought she was going to have hair redder than Ichigo's, but then it grew out more and turned white. And the amber eyes are the same as Ren's." Katsue sighed lightly.

"Have you ever told her about Ren?" Harribel asked.

"Yes and no." Katsue answered. "I mentioned that I had a sister, but she was killed by-" The white eyed girl's breath hitched for a moment. "Aizen."

"Anything bad that happened during then, could be blamed on Aizen." Grimmjow snorted as he finally took a sip of tea.

"And what does she know of Aizen?" Starrk continued with the questions.

"Only that he's really bad. I went into detail about very few things. Honestly, I just wanted to keep her away from anything that ever related to that bastard." Katsue growled.

"Maybe we should tell her." Ichigo said out of nowhere. All eyes looked at him in surprise, asking him to explain. "Aizen is obviously back. And he's looking for revenge on the Soul Society. She'll be safer if she knows." Ichigo's brown eyes met Katsue's, and the doe eyes looked horrified.

"No! I will do anything I can to make sure she never has anything to do with Aizen, she won't even know about some of the things he's done. Things I've done." Katsue's voice fell to a whisper closer to the end, but she seemed to regain it when she said "If Kori wasn't my daughter, and I didn't fear for her well being, I would track Aizen down right now and kill him."

"Kid, I hate to break it to you, but she's not gonna be any safer or happier if you don't tell her." Starrk said. "She won't be safe here."

Katsue snapped her fingers. "Your right! She won't be safe here, but what about the human world?" Four pairs of shocked eyes landed on the girl. "Think about it! The oken isn't in Karakura anymore, and that leaves no ties between the Soul Society and the human world. She would be safe! And it doesn't even have to be permenent, just until this whole crazy blackfire thing calms down and they know what it is! Hell, it may not even be Aizen!" Katsue sounded like she was on the edge of excited hysteria while she said this.

"Well," Starrk stopped to think about it for a moment. "makes sense. If you're okay with it, Harri and I could watch your house for you." Harribel nodded.

"Well Ichi?" Katsue looked at the orange haired boy expectently. He seemed to ponder it for a moment.

"Well, I guess we could stay with Karin or Yuzu." Ichigo sighed. Katsue tackled him and hugged him.

"Awwe! Thank you so much Ichi!" The girl didn't realize she was choking him until he turned an unearthly shade of purple. She let go and then took on a serious tone. "Now we just need to tell Kori."

All the eyes in the room looked out the window towards the girl, then Grimmjow decided he should call her. "OI! KORI! GET YUR' BUTT IN ERE'!" The five adults watched as the teenager jumped at the sound of Grimmjow's thundering voice and ran into the house.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, Kori?" Katsue said uneasily, now realizing she was going to have to tell her daughter an excuse as to why they'd be living in the human world for a while. "We're going to stay in the human world for a while, your Grandfather and aunts are dying to see you! Right Ichigo?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah!" Ichigo said.

"Oh cool!" Kori smiled. "So how long are we going? A few days, a week?"

"Well, actually..." Katsue shifted uneasily. "We were thinking a couple months."

Kori's eyes widened in shock, and somewhat horror when she heard this. She barely got the words out as she said "A couple _months_?" Her mother nodded and Kori regained her composure, and she placed a smile on her face. "Okay. When do we leave?"

Katsue pursed her lips before she answered "A couple tommorow."

"Oh. Well. I'm gonna go hang out with Akemi and them. Bye." And Kori suddenly raced off, Zanpakuto in hand.

"I'm a bad mom." Katsue hung her head low in her hands. Ichigo just patted her back and said some comforting things.

Kori ran. Her feet padding against the ground so fast, it was hard to even here them. When she noticed this, the girl realized she was using flashstep, something she had recently picked up on, after having Haruko help her with it. She didn't know where she was going, she just ran. Suddenly, she felt her cheeks were wet. She was crying.

"Idiot! Why are you crying!" She scolded herself. She didn't get why she was crying. It was only a couple months away. Who knows, maybe they could come back early. Hell, she could even take breaks from the vacation to come say 'hi' to everyone. But even these comforting thoughts didn't stop the oncoming tears.

Abruptly, Kori fell backwards when she ran into something, or someone. She looked up to see she had run into her white haired friend, ironically enough. He opened his mouth to probably yell at whoever ran into him, but stopped when he saw it was Kori.

"Kori? What's wrong?" He asked a bit alarmed. He helped the girl up, and was suddenly holding her close to him. This made the girl break. She started sobbing horribely. And that made her feel like an idiot. And feeling like an idiot pissed her off and made her even more sad, thus causing more tears. Tsukiyo, who had two little sisters, held her and just kept making 'shh' noises until he finally found his words. "It's okay, just tell me what's wrong."

**I haven't updated in a while, and I have to go to bed right now, so I'll stop here. Sorry if it seems rushed, it is. I really wanted to get into the plot that I finally have an idea for. So yeah. Reviews appreciated, especially what you think of the new characters. Catch ya later.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I haven't updated in a while, and I have to go to bed right now, so I'll stop here. Sorry if it seems rushed, it is. I really wanted to get into the plot that I finally have an idea for. So yeah. Reviews appreciated, especially what you think of the new characters. Catch ya later.**

** I'm back and I still don't own Bleach.**

"So, you're moving?" Tsukiyo asked his white haired friend who had her barefeet hanging in a river. He swished his own feet back and forth through the clear blue water, causing ripples in the smooth reflection.

"Yes. To the human world." Kori answered in a solemn voice, void of any emotion. She had told the boy sitting next to her everything her mother had told her only minutes before.

"Only for a few days right?" The young Hitsugaya asked, a little bit of desperate hope hidden in his voice. He already knew the answer though. Kori wouldn't be acting like this if she was only going to be gone for a few days, but he was still hopeful. But, just as he thought, the girl shook her head.

"My mom said it could be months."

"Months!" The boy roared. He had adopted many traits from his father, a short temper being one of them. "That's ridiculous! Why? Was it because of that black fire? Because that's being taken care of! I can promise her that! The stealth force and the department of research and development are taking care of it! There's nothing to fear!"

Kori just shrugged, acting indifferent to the situation. "She never said." Her lack of emotion sent her angered friend into a small tirade.

"God! Why do you always act so emotionless when there is a problem like this! You act like it doesn't matter to you! Why?" The girl just shrugged again. "Kori!"

The other young teen snapped as well, anger flushing her voice that had been void of feelings before."Why do I act like this? Because if I don't act like this, I'm going to end up crying my eyes out! Do you think I want to go?" Hot, heated tears of frustration and anxiety spilled from her eyes. The droplets rolled down her cheeks, to her chin and fell into the water. But the ripples the tears caused were broken by the larger rings eminating from Kori's legs, her whole body was shaking with the emotions that suddenly robbed her of her composure. "You don't get how much it hurts! I have to go live without my friends all because of some stupid weird black fire thing! There are two ex-Espada living with us, Grimmjow and my parents are up to something, and no one will tell me what the hell is happening except for the little fact we're leaving!"

Tsukiyo was taken back, and he wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He didn't know what to say, and even if he did, the girl hadn't given him enough time before she had stood and ran.

"Hokori!" Tsukiyo flipped himself so he was on his hands and knees, arm outstretched, as if he could catch her now. When he went to pull his foot from the water, something dragged it back a bit. He looked back with a very unhappy, questioning face. A spare arm on the aquatioc vine of a lily pad had wrapped itself around his ankle, and held it there. "How did that happen?"

Without any warning, the water weed rapidly crawled up the boys leg, all the way to his thigh, and started pulling. "What the hell?" The boy cried out, a bit alarmed. But that wasn't the end of the weed's strange actions, little spikes sprouted from the green and dug into the white haired reaper's peachy flesh, and a sharp tug pulled him into the water. He let out a yell of surprise, and his eyes fell on the creature that must have been causing the peculiar behavior and abilities of the lily vine.

A big, bony, head was half emerged from the water. Red eyes staring at Tsukiyo, a hungry want in them. Vines hung off the white head and let little thorns hang off their sides.

"I'm kind of happy you're underwater, now I don't have to see your ugly face." Tsukiyo sneered as he reached for his zanpakuto that was usually at his side. But his hand just gripped empty space. He turned an alarmed stare to his side, seeing that his sheath wasn't there. He looked back towards the bank, and saw his zanpakuto.

_'I should be able to reach if I-' _He jumped, arm reaching to it's full extent in attempt to grab his sword. When his blade was inches from his fingers, a green rope whipped his hand and snatched up his weapon before he even got a finger on it. The vine then chucked the zanpakuto into the center of the river, letting it sink into the murky depths. "No!"

"Don't worry boy. Your bones will be with it soon." An eerie voice said. The vine that was wrapped around Tsukiyo's leg started pulling him down further, and the boy's shaky hands weren't able to pull his leg free of the entrapment.

Even with his ears underwater, he could hear the malicious laugh of the creature drowning him.

Hokori burst through her front door, and didn't slow down while bolting through the living room, passing the adults. Worried calls of her name followed her, but she ignored them as she ran straight to her room. Once she was in there, she still didn't stop. She grabbed a suitcase her father had put in there for her and started shoving things into it. The few clothes she had gotten from her family in the human world, a couple books, and the necklace Tsukiyo had given her the night of the blackfire. She looked at the red crescent closely, and really noticed the black figure in the center of it. It looked like a little star, and black speckles in the scarlet gem looked like dust.

Without any further examination, the girl dropped it into her case and zipped it up. She sat on the mattress in her room and looked around her own personal dwelling. It was a mix between modern day human world and the never changing Soul Reaper style. Some things, like the straw mat and hand fans represented the Soul Reaper side of her, while things Ichigo brought back from the human world, such as the mattress ,the one Kori was sitting on now, that sat on a tatami mat. And plenty other trinkets were littered over the wooden furniture.

She pulled a picture off of her bookshelf and looked at the glossy image. She was standing with Izuke, Haruko, Akemi, and Tsukiyo, smiles on everyone's face.

"Why are you so upset?" She asked herself. "You're going to come back."

"Right?"

**There we go! I know you've heard this before, but, Sorry I haven't updated. But someone just favorited this story and 'The Espada's Guest' so I was encouraged to write more! So, ththere you are folks! Please review, you saw the power of a favorite! Imagine a review?**


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